Anderson Street in New Rochelle is a short thoroughfare that connects North Avenue and Lecount Place. It is named after the Anderson family, who “long resided on the Anderson farm, which was located in the vicinity of Anderson Street and LeCount Place.” Standard Star entry for Anderson Street. The Anderson homestead was reportedly located on the Main Street-side of New Roc City, which previously was New Rochelle Mall (which was previously St. John’s Methodist Church).

1867 Westchester Atlas. Rose Street is now North Avenue

The area occupied now by Anderson Street is shown to have been attributed to “Le Count.” This is consistent with the Standard Star entry for Anderson Street, which reports that Phoebe Anderson Lecount was a part of the Anderson family who inhabited the farm on this land originally. This person may be Phoebe Anderson Cooper, whose mother was Elizabeth LeCount and father was Joseph Anderson.

References to Anderson Street appear in the New Rochelle Pioneer by the 1880s. Unlike Anderson Street today, Anderson Street did not end at LeCount Place, but rather turned north at a right angle, where the parking garage for New Roc City now exists. Note St. John’s Methodist Church at the corner of Lecount Place and Main Street.

1910 Westchester Atlas

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St. John’s Methodist Church (courtesy Dennis Orzo)

1947 Aerial Map

Anderson Street retained this configuration until the development of New Rochelle mall in the 1960s.

After the New Rochelle mall failed, it was redeveloped into its current form as New Roc City. In this author’s opinion, one significant challenge with the development of the waterfront at Echo Bay is the obstacle that New Roc City (previously the New Rochelle Mall) presents in flow from the Metro North station to the water front. While the previous layout of streets was not conducive either (Anderson Street stopped before Hudson Street), it would have been much easier to cut through the scattered development that previously existed compared to the monolith that currently exists.